Greetings family, friends and neighbors! Today's historic rambling is about the World's Fair held on an island in San Francisco Bay eight decades ago....Bill
Historic Ramblings
TREASURE ISLAND
Dad grew up in Philadelphia and undoubtedly made numerous family trips to nearby Ocean City and the New Jersey boardwalk where he was introduced to the allure of the midway and the
excitement of thrilling amusement park rides. After moving to Oakland in the early 1920’s, young Bill and his mom lived just a nickle trolley ride from attractions at Idora Park, the water sports options at Neptune Beach, and a ferry boat ride from San Francisco’s renown Playland at the Beach amusement park.
Once dad was old enough to drive a frequent destination was the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, and still in his teens, dad talked his mom into letting him take the family Nash to Southern California
with his buddy Joe to visit Long Beach Pike and the Venice Amusement Pier. It’s no surprise that a decade later in 1939 our mom and dad would eagerly look forward to taking breaks from
building their Castro Valley dream home to spend an afternoon and evening at the San Francisco International Exposition on Treasure Island.
The plan to hold a World’s Fair to commemorate the completion of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge began with the decision to create an island in San Francisco Bay in the shallow water north of
Yerba Buena Island. Dredging and filling of the 385 acre site began in February of 1936 and took less than a year to complete. The huge undertaking was paid for by the federal government with
the agreement that “Treasure Island” would be turned over to the City of San Francisco for a municipal airport following the end of the Exposition.
“Pageant of the Pacific” was the expositions theme highlighting the nations bordering the Pacific Ocean and symbolized by the goddess Pacifica and the iconic four hundred foot Tower of the
Sun. The fair was designed in an exaggerated Art Deco style with a mix of Asian and Latin America influences with a touch of California kitsch dubbed “Pacifica”. A giant cash register recorded
daily attendance and elephant head towers welcomed arriving guests. After checking out the exhibit halls, landscaped courts, arches and international pavilions, our folks headed to the forty
acre “Gayway” amusement zone to see monkeys racing cars, little people populating in a western town, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium of side show acts, and a live exhibit of premature babies.
Unfortunately the anticipated attendance of twenty million guests to the planned year long exposition fell short of expectations and closed several months early. Reorganized and superficially revamped, the fair opened for a second shorter season but closed permanently in 1940. Plans to turn Treasure Island over to the City of San Francisco for a municipal airport were abandoned with the breakout of World War ll and instead taken over by the US Navy as a critically located Naval Air Station.
Except for a few buildings and memories of a simpler time, all traces of the Golden Gate
International Exposition were demolished. From the slopes of Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate International Exposition, located on adjacent shoals, acquires an aspect of romance. In the center, the four hundred foot Tower of the Sun.
1939 Postcard. District, Long Beach, Cal”
-Bill